Japan’s agriculture workforce has been steadily declining for the past thirty years, and a recent report by the USDA has highlighted the country’s dependency on foreign workers, despite them only making up 2 per cent of the total workforce.

According to the report, Japan’s foreign farm workforce has increased from 0.5 per cent to 2 per cent over the last decade.

Many of these workers are hired through the country’s technical intern training programme, which is limited to five years of employment.

Coronavirus restrictions have led to the closure of borders, limiting the number of foreign workers available for the industry to call upon.

The availability of foreign labour is especially critical for fruit and vegetable production which often requires cultivation by hand and is far more labour intensive.